The news of that day has passed, but its meaning remains with us today. "That Day, Today" reads the present through the records of the past.
Sept. 23, 2020. Prosecutors sought a seven-year prison term for a taxi driver who was indicted and detained on charges of deliberately crashing into an ambulance and blocking it — an incident in which a patient being transported inside later died. At the final hearing for the defendant, surnamed Choi, then 31, held before Judge Lee Yu-young of the Seoul Eastern District Court's Criminal Division 3, prosecutors asked the court to "impose a seven-year prison term, taking into account the defendant's unrepentant attitude, the risk of reoffending and the method of the crime."
Prosecutors noted that the defendant had initially denied the allegations, stating during the first round of questioning that "the patient was transported first by emergency services," before confessing as the investigation continued. They added that "even in court, the defendant took the position that he bore no fault for some of the offenses." Prosecutors also cited Choi's record of causing a collision with a private ambulance in 2017, saying that "had the defendant been punished at that time, the harm in this case would not have occurred."
The incident occurred at around 3:15 p.m. on June 8 of that year on a road in Godeok-dong, Gangdong District, Seoul. A private ambulance carrying a terminal cancer patient in their 80s who was suffering respiratory distress collided with a taxi while changing lanes. The ambulance driver handed Choi a business card, saying he would "take the emergency patient to the hospital and then resolve the matter."
Choi refused, saying that "handling the accident that just happened comes first." Dashcam footage released by the bereaved family showed Choi blocking the front of the ambulance while saying, "If (the patient) dies, I'll take responsibility," "If you want to go, run me over," and "I'll call emergency services." Choi went as far as to say that if there was no emergency patient on board, he wanted 500,000 won (about $370), and that he would file a complaint if it was not paid.
Even after learning that an emergency patient was on board, Choi blocked the ambulance's path for about 11 minutes. The patient, transported to the hospital belatedly, died about five hours after arriving at the emergency room. The son of the deceased patient later posted a petition on the presidential office's public petition website calling for Choi to be punished, drawing media coverage and public outrage.
A habitual insurance fraudster
Choi's offenses did not end there. In July 2017, he had also been indicted on charges of deliberately ramming a private ambulance and threatening its driver, saying he would file a complaint unless he was paid 500,000 won because the vehicle had been running its siren without an emergency patient on board. He also faced charges of pocketing about 20 million won in settlement money and medical expenses on six occasions between 2015 and 2019, using minor collisions as a pretext while working as a driver of chartered buses, company taxis and trucks.
Prosecutors sent Choi to trial on charges including special assault, special destruction of property, obstruction of business and violation of the Act on Special Measures for the Prevention of Insurance Fraud. They did not, however, indict him on charges such as murder or special assault resulting in death that would have held him responsible for the ambulance patient's death.
The trial court sentenced Choi to two years in prison, saying that "the defendant committed offenses of defrauding insurers and counterparties of insurance payouts and settlement money over an extended period by deliberately causing accidents or by claiming that hospitalization or outpatient treatment was needed for what were simple collisions, and the nature of the offenses is very grave."
The court said that "considering that he deliberately caused a collision with a private ambulance and obstructed its transport work even after confirming that a patient was on board, the danger involved makes his conduct deserving of censure." It added that "because the indictment was not brought on the basis that there was a causal link between the emergency patient's death and Choi's conduct, that falls outside the scope of the court's judgment and was not factored into sentencing."
Choi appealed, arguing the sentence was too heavy, and submitted a total of 25 letters of apology during the proceedings in an attempt to win a reduced term. He is said never to have apologized directly to the bereaved family even once. The appeals court sentenced him to one year and 10 months in prison, two months less than the original sentence, citing his admission of the offenses and his settlement with the counterparty's insurer. Neither prosecutors nor Choi appealed to the Supreme Court, and the sentence became final.
On Aug. 11, 2021, more than a year after the incident, the bereaved family won a partial victory in a damages suit against Choi. Judge Shin Jung-min of the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court ruled that "the defendant shall pay the plaintiffs 30 million won," in a suit in which three family members of the deceased, including one surnamed Kim, had sought 50 million won from Choi.
